NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Fatal shooting: Police explain why SH1 was closed for 12 hours

Anna Leask
By Anna Leask
Senior Journalist - crime and justice·NZ Herald·
3 Apr, 2018 01:21 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A man was shot on State Highway 1 north of Auckland after coming at police with a machete.

Police say a 12-hour motorway closure after a fatal shooting north of Auckland was "regrettable" but they make no apologies to frustrated motorists for doing their job.

A 27km stretch of State Highway 1 near Puhoi was closed to all traffic on Saturday after a man was shot dead by police.

He was killed after confronting officers with a machete just before 4am and the road was closed immediately.

It did not reopen until 3.55pm.

DO YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SHOOTING? EMAIL US
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The closure created traffic chaos for hundreds of people heading out of the city for the long Easter weekend.

Police have been heavily criticised by members of the public for the closure - primarily for the length of time they had the area shut down to traffic.

Today, Inspector Trevor Beggs, road policing manager for the Waitemata District, explained exactly what was happening inside the cordon and why it took 12 hours to clear the scene.

"That location is often associated with serious crashes, and in that situation the Serious Crash Unit will get in, do what they need to do and be out in a couple of hours," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"But this was a firearms incident, a much more complex and difficult scene.

"We only get one chance to gather evidence and to do the best job we can."

Police are investigating the death of the 29-year-old alongside parallel investigations by the Coroner and Independent Police Conduct Authority.

Beggs said it was crucial to ensure every piece of available evidence was collected - including physical evidence, scene photographs and mapping of the area.

Discover more

New Zealand

McVicar stands by comments on police shooting

03 Apr 09:00 PM
Opinion

EDITORIAL: Road closure was too long

05 Apr 05:00 PM
New Zealand|crime

Man injured in Auckland shooting

19 Jul 07:13 PM

"We had a range of people who came in to the scene, including outside agencies," he explained.

"There were the initial staff who responded, then detective teams, then the photography section, mapping, ESR forensic staff and others.

"The ESR guys are often on their hands and knees looking for vital evidence."

Beggs said there was no way the scene examination could have been completed any faster.

He visited the scene himself and saw staff "under pressure" to get the job done - and properly.

He received half-hourly updates and worked with transport agencies to update them on the status of the road closure.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We wanted to do the best job for everyone concerned," he said.

"The family of the deceased of course, the police staff involved and everyone else.

"We really needed to be in there gathering all the evidence we could."

Beggs said the location of the incident made traffic diversion challenging.

"If this had happened a few kilometres back down the road at Albany, we could have diverted people off the motorway there (along the alternative toll-free route)," he said.

"But because of where the scene was, we didn't have many options available to us.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Unfortunately it was one of the busiest, if not the busiest weekend of the year and there was a high demand on the road - it was the worst possible time for an event like this to happen."

Beggs thanked motorists for their patience and hoped those criticising police for the delays would understand how and why it had happened.

"This happened at 4am and we had to wait until daylight for most of the work at the scene to begin," he explained.

"The geography made it more difficult, and it was a complex case with multiple investigations.

"It was regrettable that it took so long, but unfortunately that could not be helped.

"I visited the scene and I was comfortable that staff were working flat out to get that road opened - literally, people were doing their absolute best to get everything done.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"At the end of the day, we had one chance to get it right - and we needed to get it right."

The investigations into the death of the 29-year-old from East Auckland are ongoing.

His name will not be released until after his funeral, at the direct request of his family.

Police are appealing for anyone who saw the victim's car to contact them.

"We are specifically interested in any sightings of the vehicle in the Rodney area between Silverdale and Warkworth on State Highway 1 between 1.20am and 4am on Saturday 31 March 2018," Detective Inspector John Sutton said yesterday.

Man down - how the police shooting unfolded

Police were initially called to an address in Onehunga by a woman reporting that a person known to her had been acting erratically.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She left the scene because she feared for her safety.

Police were sent to the property about 3.10am, however no people or vehicles were there when they arrived.

About 20 minutes later, a rural police officer heading home from a shift saw a car pulled over with its hazard lights on SH1 north of Auckland.

However, the car quickly drove off. The police car followed and the car then stopped again.

As the officer was about to get out of his vehicle the driver of the car got out and came around to the driver's door of the police car, wielding a machete and threatening the officer.

The officer quickly moved away and called for backup. The officer watched the offender from a safe distance.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The alleged offender then got back into his car and headed south on SH1 towards Puhoi.

Additional police resources, including the Eagle helicopter, were called on to help.

The driver was believed to have been travelling at speeds of up to 150km/h and at times with lights off.

Police placed spikes on the road, which successfully stopped the vehicle near Mahurangi West Rd about 3.50am.

As the first officers got out of the police car, the man, still armed with a machete, approached police again.

Police fired shots as he came towards them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Officers immediately started first aid and called an ambulance, but the man died at the scene.

Can you help?

If you have any information which you think may assist the investigation team, even if it is only minor, please contact North Shore criminal investigation branch on 09 477 5261.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'There's still a lot to do': Road safety concerns despite $47m upgrades

06 Jul 12:00 AM
New ZealandUpdated

26-year-old beats seven finalists to win Young Farmer of the Year

05 Jul 11:41 PM
New Zealand

Man dies on hunting trip on Stewart Island, police launch investigation

05 Jul 11:39 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'There's still a lot to do': Road safety concerns despite $47m upgrades

'There's still a lot to do': Road safety concerns despite $47m upgrades

06 Jul 12:00 AM

The road rebuild in Northland cost $47 million over nine months.

26-year-old beats seven finalists to win Young Farmer of the Year

26-year-old beats seven finalists to win Young Farmer of the Year

05 Jul 11:41 PM
Man dies on hunting trip on Stewart Island, police launch investigation

Man dies on hunting trip on Stewart Island, police launch investigation

05 Jul 11:39 PM
Mandatory sentences could replace judge discretion - Goldsmith

Mandatory sentences could replace judge discretion - Goldsmith

05 Jul 11:35 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search